'What more could I ask for?' - Vauquelin living the dream at Tour de France

Kévin Vauquelin already won a stage of the Tour de France on his debut last year, but it was hard to shake off the sense that Wednesday’s Caen time trial marked something of a breakout performance for the Arkéa-B&B Hotels rider.

It helped that he was operating on home roads, of course. Twelve months ago, Vauquelin’s win from the break on stage 2 came in Bologna. On Wednesday, the Norman was the régional de l’étape in Caen, as was evident from the raucous cheer that went up when he arrived on the start ramp.

A native of nearby Bayeux, home of the eponymous tapestry, Vauquelin has been weaving a striking narrative of his own in this 2025 season. After stitching together a fine Spring – wins at Étoile de Bessèges and Pays de la Loire Tour, second again at Flèche Wallonne – he continued to impress at the Tour de Suisse, leading into the final day before taking second overall.

A solid start to this Tour left Vauquelin fifth overall and in the white jersey after stage 4. In his backyard on Wednesday, he rose to the occasion once more, taking fifth place on the stage, just 49 seconds behind Remco Evenepoel. Although he lost the white jersey to the Belgian, he has the consolation of moving up to third overall, 59 seconds down on Tadej Pogacar. Heady days.

“My legs felt great, I felt like I was riding fast. At the halfway point, I heard that I was ahead of Jorgenson and Vingegaard, and that made me want to push even harder,” said Vauquelin, who had placed sixth in the week one time trial last year.

“I said I wanted to do at least as well as last year, and I'm one place higher, so I think I can be really satisfied. I had a limit, and I couldn’t sprint all the time, but as soon as there was a crowd, I saw my watts going up. I tried not to look at them too much so as not to limit myself.”

It’s not quite Pinot-mania, but it still felt like the start of something in the Calvados on Wednesday afternoon, with Vauquelin capping his display by catching and passing Enric Mas. Still only 24, Vauquelin has repeatedly impressed since turning pro in late 2021, notably beating Thibaut Pinot himself at the Tour du Jura in 2023. But the combination of his Tour de Suisse performance and his affably line in post-race interviews has seen his profile rise considerably in recent weeks. 

Perhaps it helps, too, that Pinot and Romain Bardet have retired and Julian Alaphilippe is still in search of himself. Paul Seixas is the man France believes can break the long drought to Bernard Hinault’s 1985 Tour win, but the Decathlon-AG2R rider is still only 18 years old. In the meantime, a nation turns its lonely eyes to Vauquelin.

“The crowd was crazy, just incredible,” Vauquelin said on Wednesday, according to L’Équipe. “Sometimes I didn't even know if I was going to be able to get through on the road, I felt like I was in an Alpine pass, it was pushing me on. I'd experienced that at the Olympics, but that was a Frenchman. I’d never experienced it before as Kévin Vauquelin. 

“They were chanting my name everywhere, my family was there, my friends, my fan club... I see countless people around me in Normandy, the enthusiasm is incredible.”

The fervour will be even greater on stage 6, which starts from Vauquelin’s hometown of Bayeux, while the rugged terrain on the road to Vire lends itself perfectly to his gifts as a puncheur. On Thursday, Vauquelin will be in the spotlight like never before. Good thing he seems to enjoy it rather than shirk from it.

“It’ll be even worse,” he said. “I’m over the moon. Passing through my hometown is very emotional. I feel like crying. They say every day has its own troubles, but I'm not suffering any troubles. It’s a childhood dream, I just want to pinch myself. My loved ones are also living the dream. 

“Now I'm in third place in the Tour de France, wearing the white jersey, playing a leading role, having won a stage last year. What more could I ask for?”

Another stage win, perhaps, but Vauquelin’s elevated status on the general classification will surely preclude him from getting in the break of the day to Vire. If he wants to win there or at Mur-de-Bretagne on Friday, he might well have to beat Pogacar himself à la pédale.

“Everything can change from one day to the next, but Kévin isn’t there for the general classification, and the general classification riders know that too,” directeur sportif Didier Rous told Cyclismactu. “These are stages where things can happen. Will Pogacar want to lock down the race? I'm not so sure. We'll see, we'll take it day by day and see how it goes – but the primary goal is a stage victory.”

It remains to be seen if Vauquelin’s Tour de Suisse display will translate to GC ambitions further down the line, but at least one change is on the horizon. With Arkéa-B&B Hotels still scrambling to find sponsors to keep the team from disbanding at season’s end, Vauquelin looks destined to move to pastures new in 2026, with Ineos his most likely destination.

And yet wherever Vauquelin goes next, Arkéa manager Emmanuel Hubert will be hoping against hope that his magnetic displays can move the dial in his talks with potential sponsors. “Companies are asking more questions than before,” he told France Info on Wednesday morning.